


Who We Choose To Be

by statictremors



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Because of Reasons, F/F, Kara Danvers isn't Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, but there's fluff too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15180902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/statictremors/pseuds/statictremors
Summary: Lena Luthor is used to being on her own.  But on her way to Hogwarts to begin first year, she finds life may have a different plan for her.





	1. Journeys and Meetings

Lena Luthor learns a lot growing up.

She learns at four that life isn’t fair. She learns that when Lionel Luthor tells her that an accident occurred. That her mother is gone and that Lena will be living with Lionel and his family now.

She learns a few weeks later that the strange things she could do weren’t exclusive to her. It turns out Lionel was a wizard, and her mother was what they called a Muggle (Lillian Luthor lets out a noticeable snarl when Lena’s mother was brought up.)

Lena learns at age seven, a month after Lionel died of a strange illness, that Lillian Luthor is not a kind woman. She’s fine enough in public, because of course the Luthor image is everything. But behind closed doors, Lillian (who will send a mean Stinging Hex to Lena if she ever fails to call her mother) is a despicable monster. Lena gets basic rations as opposed to the feasts Lillian and Lex partake in. Lex gets praise showered on him because of his brilliant mind, while Lena is lucky to escape the day without any injury.

Lena learns at nine that she’s worthless. That if she were to disappear or die, no one would notice or care. Lena only briefly considers testing that theory.

Lena learns at ten that even someone with a mind as brilliant as her brother can break. Can be beaten. Lex snaps and goes on a spree, killing Muggles in handfuls. Lena wonders if her mother, her real mother, died to a dark wizard. She never did find out what exactly happened to her.

Lena learns not long after that that money is everything. Because Lex may have been sent to Azkaban, but Lillian used every resource she had to ensure the Luthor matriarch was a saint. Having lost all her blood relatives and devoting her love to her adopted child, Lillian Luthor was a truly good citizen. And the world was complicated. Everyone seemed to see the family as dark, but no one seemed to care. Lillian was still high up in the Ministry (The Minister of Magic had just been around for dinner a few nights ago).

Lena learns at ten that she’s now included in the dark wizards group. Everyone expects her to be in Slytherin when she goes to Hogwarts. Just like Lionel was. Just like Lillian was. Just like Lex was. Just like every Luthor was. Lena wishes more than ever that her mother was a wizard, because surely, she would have been in whatever the best house was.

When January passes with Lena’s eleventh birthday, she gets a letter by owl that she had been both hoping and dreading to equal levels. 

The next few months pass almost like a blur. Perhaps it’s because no matter what house she ends up in, she’ll at least be far away from the wrath of Lillian Luthor.

September arrives soon enough, and Lena is pushing her trolley through the crowds. Lillian gave a lovely remark to the press about how devastated she was to be unable to see her daughter off to Hogwarts, but Lena’s certain the real reason she isn’t here is that it would be far too tempting for Lillian to just throw the young Luthor under the train.

She gets looks as she passes by everyone, because of course she does. Her face has only been on the front page of hundreds of issues of the Daily Prophet, so she certainly won’t be a stranger to anyone in the Wizarding World. She’s, as the stuck-up families say, the adopted Mudblood (Lena wants to tell them that she’s actually a half blood with Lionel for her father, but she knows all too well that Lillian would seriously consider the Cruciatus Curse as a form of punishment if Lena wasn’t careful.)

As she loads her trolley onto the chain, she hears a yell and glances over. A blonde girl, looking to be her age, is bouncing up and down next to a slightly older girl with short dark hair. She turns back to two adults Lena can only assume is her parents, and she must have a spell on her with how she can’t seem to stop bouncing.

The parents and the other girl flash her a smile that causes the blonde to grin wide in excitement. Lena smiles at the scene, but the smile fades as she takes in that she doesn’t have that. She doesn’t get to be saying goodbye to her loving parents as she boards the train. She doesn’t get friends and family supporting her and making sure she’s happy. She’s a Luthor, and nobody likes a Luthor, and no Luthor likes her.

She pushes her trolley through the train, passing carriage after carriage, not even humouring herself with ones only occupied by a single student. She grew up in isolation, and her instincts tell her that’s her safest bet for navigating Hogwarts.

Or at least that’s how she thought it would go.

The train has started moving, and Lena has glanced out the window to watch as the train station disappears. She almost cries a little because for the next nine months, she is free from the hands of Lillian Luthor. 

She only has a few more moments of thought before a sense of dread works itself through her body as the compartment door slides open. She wants to shrink into herself, but then a voice is speaking so softly that Lena can’t help but feel at ease.

“Sorry to bother you, it’s just….everywhere else feels a bit too busy. Can I sit in this compartment with you? It’s fine if you don’t, I just…”

She’s trailing off now, rambling. So, Lena turns to face her and is met with a familiar sight. It’s the bouncy blonde she saw at the station, though noticeably without the older girl she was alongside. Lena really can’t say no to what was the embodiment of excitement only a short time ago, so she gives off a small smile and nods.

Lena gets a radiant smile in return as the blonde puts her trunk in an overhead compartment before sitting across from Lena. A few more moments pass before the blonde gives a small wave. “I’m Kara. Kara Danvers. And you are?”

Lena is spared briefly from the fear accompanying that question as the compartment door slides open again and they’re joined by two more people. The first, Lena recognises as the one Kara was bouncing up and down next to at the station. The other girl is someone Lena hasn’t seen before. She has dark hair too, but it’s longer, and her dimples are very visible when she gives Kara a smile.

“Kara, how do you always manage to pick the furthest away spot to end up?” The short haired brunette groans, placing herself next to Kara with a huff.

“Don’t be mean, Alex.” Kara says, and Lena holds back a giggle at the way the blonde sticks out her tongue. She turns back to Lena. “This is my sister, Alex. And her friend, Maggie.” She adds, pointing to the long-haired brunette. (Lena may have caught a slight bush on Maggie’s cheeks, but she won’t say anything.) Kara turns to face Alex and Maggie. “Guys, this is….”

She pauses as she has clearly realised she does not know the name of her newest friend. As she glances awkwardly to the Luthor, Lena decides to just bite the bullet. “My name is Lena Luthor.”

She feels it. The way the mood goes through them all. And she’s ready to just grab her things and leave. Say goodbye to the perfect smile that Kara has. But before she can even finish that train of thought, she realises Kara is looking at her.

“You always look sad in the photos.” She’s saying. “In the newspaper. Your mom doesn’t even really look at you. So, I know you’re not like the other Luthors.”

It’s Maggie who speaks next, in a gentle voice. “The papers say you’re a Muggleborn taken in by the Luthors. I’m a half-blood, and Kara is a Muggleborn.” (Kara picks that moment to chime in that she’s a Muggleborn too) “It doesn’t matter the name you have attached or the blood you come from, Lena. What matters is the person you choose to be.”

Alex talks last. “I’m a pureblood. The Danvers family is an old pureblood one just like the Luthors. It doesn’t get talked about much, but there are bad people in my family history. So, if there is evil in a family of good, then there has to be good in a family of evil.” She gives Lena a reassuring smile that is matched by both Kara and Maggie. “So why don’t you tell us not about Lena Luthor….but just about Lena?”


	2. Hats and Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm touched by the attention this has gotten already, and I hope you'll all stay as we embark on this journey and see where it goes.
> 
> As a side note, it's surprisingly hard to decide what houses they should be in.

Maggie and Alex are both third-year Gryffindors, Lena discovers (though Alex mentions that she got the option to choose between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw). After hearing more about the houses, Lena decides that she wants to be in Ravenclaw out of all of them, even if she’s sure her name alone has already planted her firmly in Slytherin.

Kara says she doesn’t mind what house she ends up in, as long as she gets to be friends with Lena. Lena decides at that moment that Kara might just be her favourite person.

The ride feels calmer than she expected. Perhaps it’s the sense of security she feels amongst this trio who genuinely seem like they want to know her. But all too soon they’re being ushered out, Lena and Kara being escorted to the boats as Maggie and Alex walk off towards the carriages.

Kara almost tips their boat over in her excitement, Lena having to remind her to calm down every once in a while. Lena feels all her worry fade away for a moment though as it comes into view.

She had only seen it in pictures before. But Hogwarts was something else entirely in person. Absolutely beautiful. Even Lena, who lived in the Luthor mansion, was amazed by how tremendous it was. She glanced over and saw Kara’s eyes sparkling with wonder and Lena just had to be grateful she had met this girl.

Soon enough they had gotten off the boats and were being escorted through the halls. Professor Henshaw, who is apparently the Transfiguration teacher as well as the Head of Gryffindor, welcomes them to Hogwarts with a warm smile. He explains how it’s going to be done. A Sorting Hat will be placed on their head. After an amount of time (Professor Henshaw says how long all depends on the student), the Hat will quite proudly yell the name of their new House, and that will be it. It’s all rather simple, really. So why doesn’t that do anything to ease Lena’s fears?

She knows why. What if the Sorting Hat declares her a Slytherin right after it touches her head?

She doesn’t get much time to ponder this possibility, as all of a sudden, they’re ushered into the Great Hall, the eyes of everyone on them. She’s sure she glances a few glares her way, but she shakes it off. She can’t focus on that.

“Arias, Samantha” is the first name called, and a brunette goes up to the stool with a small smile. The hat sits on her head for only a minute before it yells out “SLYTHERIN!” A cheer erupts from one of the tables as Sam Arias heads off to join her new house.

A few more names pass by, each house gaining a few more members. Soon enough, they arrive at one of the parts Lena has been waiting for as “Danvers, Kara.” Is called forward. Lena watches as the blonde walks up, looking a bit more nervous than Lena would have expected from the excited girl she had met only a few hours before. The sorting for Kara takes about five minutes, and it seems that Professor Henshaw is about to check on her when it lets out a cry of “GRYFFINDOR!”

Lena lets out a smile as two people stand up and start yelling in happiness as the blonde hops down from the school. Kara moves and sits between Alex and Maggie, hugging her sister before she gives a small wave off to Lena, who turns away as the reality settles in that she probably won’t end up in the same house as Kara Danvers.

Lucy Lane is sorted into Gryffindor as well before the time finally comes. And the silence is deafening as the words “Luthor, Lena” are spoken. Taking a moment to collect herself, she walks up, ignoring all the glances from the entire hall as she sits on the stool. The hat is placed on her head, and she begins to hear a voice in her head.

“Another Luthor.” The voice muses, and Lena is already flinching because oh god, even the magical hat thinks she’s evil.

To her utter surprise, the voice lets out a laugh. “Oh, I know you’re not like the other ones, Lena. You’re different. And you want to be different. That’s why you hate the idea of being in Slytherin.”  
Lena doesn’t show it, but she’s smiling a little at that. Someone doesn’t just understand it, they say it before she even can.

“But I must ask you to hear me out.” The hat says to her. “Slytherin is not just darkness. It is ambition. And your ambition to be something better than your name, and the intelligence you carry with you, make you very good for two different houses. Ravenclaw or Slytherin. So, I leave it up to you, Lena Luthor. Choose your own path.”

It’s the first time Lena has really been asked to have a say in what happens to her. It feels odd, actually having the ability to make a choice for her own benefit. And she really thinks it over. If she picks Ravenclaw, she’ll already make a huge change. It won’t be all Luthors that end up in Slytherin. And maybe that way she can change the opinion of everyone here!

But it’s more than that. She knows it. She wants to show that she isn’t defined by her last name at all. And will she be choosing Ravenclaw because that’s where she belongs? Or will she be choosing it to spite her family?

She isn’t evil just because she’s a Luthor. She won’t be evil if she ends up in the same house as Lillian or Lex or Lionel. She’s her own person. She always has been.  
She knows her choice.

It’s funny, in a way. She never thought she’d be smiling as the hat yelled “SLYTHERIN!” She never thought she’d keep that smile as she got off the stool, and waved to Kara amongst the silence (Unsurprisingly, her table didn’t cheer this time). She sat next to Sam Arias, who gave her a smile and was kind enough to pat the spot next to her in invitation.

They watch as everyone else gets sorted. Gryffindor gets James Olsen, Ravenclaw gets Winn Schott, and Slytherin gets Siobhan Smythe and Leslie Willis. After a huge feast (and it’s huge even by the standards Lena has seen at all the big galas she’s been to), they’re called away by the Prefects.

Lena discovers that there were more Slytherin first years than expected, which means there will be a dorm with only two students.

She and Sam immediately take that opportunity.

“For what it’s worth, I know you’re good.” Sam says, smiling. “I’m good too. We can be the proof that not all Slytherins are awful people. Because it means so much more, you know?” Her smile is infectious, and Lena can’t help but grin as she sits on her bed. “We’re smart, but we’re cunning too. We can outsmart any of our enemies, and we won’t let anyone stop us. So, we won’t just be good witches. We’ll be the best witches Hogwarts has ever seen.”

It’s a far-fetched idea, Lena considers, as she feels sleep begin to overtake her. There have been many powerful witches, so to be the best would take a lot of work. But she doesn’t really care about her chances. For the first time in her life, she’s really took the initiative to carve her own path.

So when Sam says they’ll be the best?

Lena might just believe her.


End file.
